incremental-refactoring

Safe code refactoring requires an analysis-only phase to prioritize candidates, explicit user approval before edits, and single-transformation commits verified by tests or type checks to ensure behavior remains unchanged.

The best way to reduce nesting and complex conditionals is through incremental code refactoring, applying verifiable transformations like extract method or replace nested conditionals one step at a time with tests validating each change.

Prioritizing code smells during cleanup involves applying an 80/20 analysis phase to identify and rank candidate refactorings, focusing on high-impact structural improvements before performing any actual code edits.

Yes, you can safely refactor code if your project relies on type checking, because the verification process accepts either passing tests or mechanical type checks after each single-transformation commit to prove behavior is preserved.

You should avoid incremental refactoring when large, risky rewrites are explicitly preferred over small verifiable transformations, or when your codebase lacks tests and type checks to mechanically verify behavior after each change.